I Don't Bring My Kids' Fevers Down.... Do You?

Since you asked, yes I absolutely DO medicate my children when they run a fever and are miserable. I don't believe in letting a child suffer when they do not have to...

I give meds to bring down a fever in my kids just like I do when I have a fever. Fevers are miserable.

My son grew up with an auto immune issue and a fever meant a trip to the hospital and possible death. Different folks have different needs. In addition, it's not cool, it's temped. If you are 101 then the cloth should be 99, if you are 103 then the cloth should be 101 etc.

Next time you have a migraine let me hide the Ibuprofen. I think you need to just breath it out.

Proven, less stress and damage to your liver, but HEY you lived through it.

How bout just giving them a little discomfort relief, but then again that would mean you artificially brought it down and it would ruin the whole experiment.

Our pediatrician has advised us to give Tylenol or Motrin if the child is uncomfortable (achy, headache, sore throat, etc.). If the child is not uncomfortable, then there is no need to medicate. He did say that any fever over 101, to call him ASAP. High fevers can be an indicator that something is going badly wrong, and there's less room for error in kids. They can go downhill very quickly.

Bottom line, I don't medicate if the child isn't complaining. However if they ARE complaining, I will certainly not withhold medication in order for them to get better faster (?). I figure if *I* would take Tylenol for it, then I'll allow my kids to take Tylenol for it.

You are lucky you don't have a child prone to febrile seizures. One of mine is so you bet I bring it down as quickly as possible. I don't "wait and see". It depends on the child, I don't do what everyone else is doing.

Oh my. Please don't get health care information for your children based on observations. Please follow medical advice from a provider with board certification and an education. It's this non sense that has caused me to see little ones with brain deficits from fevers in urgent care. Please medicate in children for temp above 101.5 unless other wise advised by a trusted doctor, NP or nurse.

As a RN, I can tell you that medicating your child for a fever in no way causes them to be sick longer. A fever indicates that the immune system is working. By medicating the child, you are making the child feel better, but they really still have a fever (when you stop giving the medication, the fever will come back). The only thing I agree with you on is not giving a cool bath- it really does make them feel worse. In answer to your question,yes I medicate them if they will take the medicine so that they will feel better.

I do, especially with my youngest. He is prone to febrile seizures. His pediatrician advised giving him Motrin at 99.0

I do not treat the fever unless my child is too uncomfortable to rest. Fortunately my kids never get high fevers or febrile seizures. It is interesting though the differing opinions on the role a fever plays in fighting off bacteria and viruses. My doctor and just about every website I visit (including the Mayo Clinic) all say that fever helps to fight the infection. The Mayo Clinic recommends only treating fevers over 102.

http://www.medicinenet.com/aches_pain_fever/article.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/cellu...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9895.php
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fever/ID00052

CW, just because you are an RN doesn't give any more back to your argument. There are plenty of doctors who disagree on the subject of fevers. I am an RN also, and I'll be the first to admit that there is so much the medical community does not know. I disagree with your statement that when you medicate a child, they still have a fever. Yes it will come back when the meds wear off, but while they are medicated the temp comes down. If you continue to keep it down, you are taking away one of the body's defense mechanisms.

Obviously, there are medical conditions that warrant treating a temperature, and temps that get too high need to be treated (the cut-off varies based on age). But in general, low-grade temps are not harmful.

I think our society is too quick to medicate, especially for pain/discomfort. You're not a bad parent if you don't treat every discomfort that your child experiences. You can teach them alternative pain control methods before giving medications.

Mine has febrile seizures, so if it hits 99.0 it's time for the medicine. I'm usually all for just letting their bodies get rid of things naturally, but I'd rather give meds than have my son have another seizure.

I don't give them anything unless they are complaining of pain. I just make sure they have plenty of fluids. Of course if it's too high then I call the Dr. I totally agree with you. Fevers are our bodies way of fighting off what illness we have.

I will give my son motrin sometimes even if his fever is low , just for the fact that he's feeling rotten. Other than that, I try to wait until it hits 102 or so.

Giving fever reducer DOES make it probable that you'll be sicker longer because when the fever is gone, there is nothing fighting the illness off. That's why you should keep it around.
Anyways, I don't use the stuff either. Fever is a good thing. It's funny because a doctor will tell you that 105 fever is way too high and will fry your brain, but a naturopath will tell you that your brain can't fry until it hits 107 and that NEVER happens. My daughter had a 105 temp once for 3 days and I let my naturopath know. She said as long as she was taking fluids she would be fine. I only gave her meds at night if she was having a hard time sleeping.
My son use to have febrile seizures. Giving meds before hand would never keep him from having one.

I don't know anyone who medicates their kids for low grade fevers, that's REALLY outdated advice. I'm glad you got a new pediatrician, the other one must have been a hundred years old!

I medicate based in my DD's behavior, or for a high fever.

If my DD is acting fine, no medicine. If she is listless or uncomfortable, she gets a lukewarm bath or medicine.

I medicate my son if he feels lousy. His immune system will get rid of that virus whether it is at 99 or 102. But my son will feel a LOT better at a normal temp. Also - there is pretty good evidence that it does not make an important (not statistical but clinically important) difference in recovery times for common viruses. If my son feels fine and is febrile, I let it be.

I looked at the NIH website and while the link given below states febrile seizures have no consequences, that is not exactly true (just have to look around the website a bit longer). Long febrile seizures can result in epilepsy in 2-5% of children who have them. Worth avoiding. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/febrile_seizures/detai...

If it's a slight fever I let them be. If they are miserable then I give them some Tylenol.
L.

If it is low and doesn't seem to be bothering them, I let it go since it is their body fighting/killing "the bad guys". If it is high, yes I do.

I let my 9 year old let me know, I love that he is old enough to let me know. I hate the "guessing" at younger ages...

I don't give my kids Tylenol or Motrin etc., unless the fever gets unusually high and/or they are displaying other bad symptoms.
I also check their temps regularly, all day and night.
I monitor them, closely.
I also keep aware of any worsening symptoms and/or secondary infections and if the cold is getting worse or not etc.
Monitoring.
Then taking them to the Doc if of course, if things get worse.

My friend's son, got sick recently and has fever, and turns out he has the Flu AND Strep.
So, a fever is not always indicative of something simple or minor.

Fever also causes both hotness and chills.
It also causes dehydration.
So, fluid intake is important. And depends on the illness.

I don't medicate at the drop of a hat. But if they are obviously miserable and complaining of discomfort and nothing else helps them feel any better than I will most certainly give Tylenol. I also do not drag out trying other things to make them comfortable. If it doesn't work in a reasonable amount of time I get the Tylenol. If they are running a fever but aren't complaining of discomfort and are able to sleep I wait it out.
I will use a cool washcloth on the back of the neck, dressing them lightly and will let them splash in the tub if they want to. I don't over do it and bring their temperature down so much and so fast that they begin to shiver. That's doing it wrong. But there is no reason to not do it, so long as you do it correctly.

I do medicate my daughter almost every time. The slightest temperature with her makes her vomit. Actually, that's usually the first indication that her temp is on the rise. If I leave it untreated, she get so sick. So, it's meds for her usually right off the bat.
With my son, I usually let it ride and give medication as a last resort. Medications irritate his sensitive stomach so much that I usually don't give any fever reducers.
While your statements sound good in theory, my practical experience with my two kids suggest otherwise. My daughter almost always recovers more quickly than my son, who just seems to suffer longer than she with the same illnesses. She bounces back like a boomerang each and every time. So, I think a lot of the recovery time depends on the individual child. Some kids, like adults, just simply have stronger constitutions than others.

I don't think that they do it because "that's what everyone else does" as much as because fevers scare people, for different reasons. A fever is a symptom, an indication of sickness, and most parents simply want their kids to feel better--be symptom-free--right away. Some parents panic and want to catch the sickness before it gets away from them. That might be due to a lack of understanding of what a fever really is. Maybe.

I don't like for my wee one to be hot like that, but I tend to let it ride and just stay close. When it gets higher than I'm comfortable with and when he shows signs of being miserable, I do what I think is appropriate to make him comfortable.

I treat it a fever as soon as it hits 101.1 That is the point at which my kids stop drinking fluids because they feel so lethargic. About 20 minutes after the dose, they're able to drink and eat something. Dehydration is dangerous, and I'd never want that to happen. (Plus one dose helps them sleep better at night. Who wants to try to sleep with a 102 fever? They'd be awake with horrible chills.) Every child is different, obviously, so good job figuring out what works best. :)

I had one the other day and it was making me MISERABLE. It was higher than I usually get. I did not take anything (didn't have anything except infant stuff, lol) and I recovered in one day. Amazing.

For the kids I usually do for 101 or higher IF they are miserable. Certainly for 102 and above. See, the main thing for me is if they are about to go to bed...once had one go to bed with a small fever and woke up 30 minutes later with 105! Luckily I went in to check.

If it's day and I'm watching, different story.
To me, I don't so much care about if the fever is good or bad, but that the medicine is bad. The relationship between Tylenol and autism, Motrin and organ damage...no thanks!

It depends on the child and the behavior. If DD spikes a fever, I might not give her anything at 100F, but I probably would at 103.

Man, for the incidence of febrile seizures in children under the age of 5 being between 2%-4%, there sure seems to be an unnaturally large amount of you here! That's very concerning that so many of your children have experienced seizures with fever. Were any of these seizures following childhood vaccinations? Something to think about...

I don't typically medicate a fever unless the child is VERY uncomfortable. Usually the fever makes my child sleepy and lethargic, which again, is not a problem in itself, as sleep is often the best way to help their bodies fight the virus. The fever DOES help the body's immune system fight, and the bringing down of the fever DOES delay that process.

Each child's needs will be different, and if your little one is miserable, then certainly some Tylenol to help them feel better is better at that moment. It balances out the fact that they may be ill for an extra 12-24 hours.

With a history of seizures and epilepsy in our family, we tend to medicate to bring fevers down. I think with medical decisions one needs to consider each individual.

I don't give my kid's anything for the fevers unless they are miserable. Every other year my son used to get 104 plus fevers and I have taken him to the ER a few times over it, not to mention the regular doc. One ER doc told me to not worry about the fever unless it was over 104 and he's miserable because he has a "High cooker" and his body is trying to fight the infection. I have put he and his sister in the bath to play before because they have fun and it takes his mind off he being sick. This past Spring break, my daughter had a huge camping trip that she couldn't wait to go on, and she had a high fever. She ended up having pneumonia. Anyway, I didn't treat the fever and her Dr. was very angry with us telling us that we needed to treat the fever so she could rest. We explained our philosophy and she told us that she didn't agree, but her husband was a MD and he followed our beliefs as well and they had many debates over it. Anyway, you need to follow your heart and do what you think is right for your kid's!!

My kids get Tylenol AND Motrin when they have fevers. My oldest daughter had to have Advanced Life Support meet the ambulance on the side of the road because her febrile seizure was lasting too long. The doctor's are amazied she does not have any permanent damage from that one...she was 15 months old and I was 21. She is now 10 and to this day we fight fevers like there is no tomorrow.

My husband was a Corpsman in the Navy for 21 years and our Pediatric Neurologists at Children's National Medical Center have encouraged us to fight fevers when they show up, to avoid the possibilities of the seizures. Since my daughter had them, they also told us our boys were more prone to them as well. Fortunately, the boys have never had them, but my daughter had them up until she was 5.

I guess I might have the same opinion you have if I hadn't seen my mixed child turn blue in front of my eyes at least 5 times. Fevers scare the hell out of me, so I will medicate with force to keep my kids from much more severe consequneces.

Prolonged high temperature is dangerous. I definitely use paracetamol to bring a fever down. My children tend to vomit a lot when they have fevers. They are really sick. So, fever, vomiting, can't keep fluids down, dehydration, the cycle is bad, and can lead to very serious consequences. I don't do it because it's what everyone does. I don't even know what everyone else does. I do it to look after my children.

My children tend to run high fevers when they get a fever (103-105). So yes I tend to medicate and do other things to bring them down - ie plenty of fluids, lukewarm (not cool so they shiver lukewarm so it is slightly cooler than their body temp) baths and clothes on forehead, behind neck, under arm pits ect.

I also let the way the child is feeling help me decide. Tylenol and Motrin can help with many of the other symptoms that maybe bothering. If they are miserable, I try to do what I can to help them feel better but to each their own.

I usually wait a couple of days (most of the time the fever is under 101), I give my kids lots of fluids, honey and popsicles,and if the fever does not go down with symptoms of lethargy or worse,, I call my doctor's office. I believe in my instinct and experience, and it has worked out well so far.

A. :)

I try to go more by how my children are feeling/behaving. Both of my kids are high energy, so if they are laying around not doing anything for a good chunk of time then I start to assess the situation. I can always tell when my kids have a fever. Their earlobes and backs get burning hot more than forehead and cheeks. I do use the cool rags, it seems to be soothing because a headache usually comes with fever. I usually cave at 102 temp though, and if it ever got to 105 we would be at the hospital!
A.